The '''W.P. Ker lecture''' was a yearly lecture at the University of Glasgow. It is now a full lectureship. It was instated in 1938 in honour of William Paton Ker, of whom [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] spoke with reverence in ''[[The Monsters and the Critics]]''.

The '''W.P. Ker lecture''' was a yearly lecture at the University of Glasgow. It is now a full lectureship. It was instated in 1938 in honour of William Paton Ker, of whom [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] spoke with reverence in ''[[The Monsters and the Critics]]''.

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On April 15th, [[1953]], Tolkien was given the honour of providing this lecture. It was a discussion of ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' and the religious themes temptation, adultery and repentance.

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On April 15th, [[1953]], Tolkien was given the honour of providing this lecture. It was a discussion of ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' and the religious themes temptation, adultery and repentance.<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 135]], note 2</ref>

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On various websites with a "Tolkien Timeline" (a selection:<sup>[http://tolkien.cro.net/tolkien/tolktmln.html][http://gollum.usask.ca/tolkien/era3.html][http://mural.uv.es/jojise/narratime.html][http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=54131761][http://brokenwillsandsavinggrace.blogspot.com/2006/06/timeline-of-jrr-tolkien.html]</sup>), the date of this lecture is incorrectly given as [[1933]] (or "circa 1933"). It seems to be based on a misreading and ignorant copy-pasting. Only one site cites a source<sup>[http://gollum.usask.ca/tolkien/era3.html]</sup>, William Beard Ready's ''[http://www.amazon.com/Tolkien-relation-personal-inquiry/dp/B0006BUVUM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208801654&sr=8-2 The Tolkien Relation, a personal inquiry]'', of which this website does not own a copy.

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On various websites with a "Tolkien Timeline" (a selection:<sup>[http://tolkien.cro.net/tolkien/tolktmln.html][http://gollum.usask.ca/tolkien/era3.html][http://mural.uv.es/jojise/narratime.html][http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=54131761][http://brokenwillsandsavinggrace.blogspot.com/2006/06/timeline-of-jrr-tolkien.html]</sup>), the date of this lecture is incorrectly given as [[1933]] (or "circa 1933"). It seems to be based on a misreading and ignorant copy-pasting. Only one site cites a source<sup>[http://gollum.usask.ca/tolkien/era3.html]</sup>, [[William Beard Ready]]'s ''[[The Tolkien Relation]]'', in which it is recorded erronously.<ref>[[William Beard Ready]], ''[[The Tolkien Relation]]'', page 22: ''"He gave the W.P. Ker lecture at Glasgow University in 1933..."''</ref>

==References==

==References==

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* ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', note 2 to [[Letter 135]].

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<references/>

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* ''[[The Monsters and the Critics]]'', in which the text is published.

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==See Also==

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* [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Monsters and the Critics]]''

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==External links==

* [http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/chair-and-lectureship/?id=141 University of Glasgow]

* [http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/chair-and-lectureship/?id=141 University of Glasgow]

Revision as of 14:06, 17 November 2008

The W.P. Ker lecture was a yearly lecture at the University of Glasgow. It is now a full lectureship. It was instated in 1938 in honour of William Paton Ker, of whom Tolkien spoke with reverence in The Monsters and the Critics.

On April 15th, 1953, Tolkien was given the honour of providing this lecture. It was a discussion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the religious themes temptation, adultery and repentance.[1]

On various websites with a "Tolkien Timeline" (a selection:[1][2][3][4][5]), the date of this lecture is incorrectly given as 1933 (or "circa 1933"). It seems to be based on a misreading and ignorant copy-pasting. Only one site cites a source[6], William Beard Ready's The Tolkien Relation, in which it is recorded erronously.[2]